Nomfanelo Magwentshu: How to shape #MotherlandMoguls into leaders #SheHiveJoburg

Nomfanelo Magwentshu is a partner at McKinsey and was the lead organiser for the SA Fifa World Cup. She was previously the GM for South Africa’s national carrier, South African Airways. Nomfanelo provided some tips on how to be leaders at #SheHiveJoburg. She also opened up about her upbringing and her reasons for leaving certain roles in her career that did not fulfil her.

With that said, one saying we took from Nomfanelo and her journey and that can resonate with Motherland Moguls is this, Take a leap of faith and follow your dreams and add value to other people’s lives even in the smallest ways.

Nomfanelo shared what has shaped the leader that she is today:

Show up and take risks

Always show up and take risks when you are given opportunities in your career or in business. Show up and be counted.

People must know you, and acknowledge you. Ensure that you’re not just a number to an organisation, you need to make sure you leave your mark.

Find sponsors and mentors

According to Nomfanelo, find sponsors and mentors that will challenge you. Someone that will challenge some of your deepest issues and fears. One of her deepest fears is the fear of failure, especially the fear of not being good enough in a new environment.

She pointed out that mentors will not make the decisions for you. It’s important to make yourself accountable for everyday decision, even if you have a mentor to help you navigate through your life.

#MotherlandMogul tip: Find people to coach you —different people who can coach you on different aspects of your life and find those people that will challenge to get the best out of you.

Think about the bigger picture

When Nomfanelo joined the SA Fifa World Cup organising committee, it was not about being the best in football.

She shied away from the media but her biggest goal was to think of the bigger picture, and that was to ensure that South Africa delivers the best World Cup.

Listen, follow your head but don’t neglect your heart

At times where she lasted 5 months in an organisation, in her head Nomfanelo knew this MIGHT be the right place for her but her heart told her otherwise.

Ensure that you listen to both to make the right decisions for yourself.

Failure is a step towards success

You need to learn from your failures as they are a step to your next success. When you go to your next step, learn from your failures and you are guaranteed to be successful. If you make another mistake, always get up and keep moving.

#MotherlandMogul tip: Ensure that you reflect and you learn from the failures and make sure that you do not repeat them.

I am a Consultant by profession, and an SLA writing contributor. I'm passionate about Women Empowerment and helping young women achieve their career goals and making a difference. I'm also an aspiring hiker, enjoy reading novels and also have a fourth degree black belt in Jenga.